Solana Beach business Rokenbok Toy Company has been chosen by Google to join the first-ever YouTube Ambassador program, which recognizes nine businesses from around the country for their outstanding work driving business growth using YouTube.

About 15 years ago, Paul Eichen left his corporate gig to start the construction toy company, Rokenbok. Until three years ago, his selling strategy was simple — about 80 percent of customers came through specialty toy stores, 20 percent through word of mouth, and zero through the Internet. When the economy shifted, specialty toy stores began shutting their doors, and Rokenbok needed a new way to connect with customers and demonstrate how the toys worked.

Ultimately after testing different strategies, they found that creating videos that showed off the fun that kids had playing with the toys really took off. All of their videos are produced in-house and posted on their YouTube channel — whether it’s product demos or fun educational videos.

Ambassadors were recently flown out to Google’s headquarters in the Bay Area to meet with executives and learn about other ways to grow their business online. The lucky 9 will also be featured on YouTube’s homepage.